STM East Africa started operating in 2005, with its first partnership program at Uganda Christian University (UCU), near Uganda’s capital, Kampala, aimed at reducing the obstacles to safe childbirth. This training program for leaders in Uganda, leading to a Masters Degree in Public Health Leadership, equips professionals from diverse professions to make a difference in their sphere of influence, giving them the tools and skills they need to become strong advocates for change and build new societal infrastructures.

Students are working professionals who study on a part-time, modular basis over two years, completing the program with an intensive outreach project that challenges them to reenter their sphere of influence and prove that their new found skills will make a difference. It is designed so participants can continue to work while studying.

“When you save a mother’s life, you save the best person to raise her children, feed, clothes, vaccinate, and educate them, and also contribute to her community, her economy, her environment. Save the mothers and you can save the world.”
~Sarah Brown, Wife of former Prime Minister of the U.K.

The almost instantaneous profile of the Masters program, and the level of interest by applicants (most modules, more than 100 apply for 25 seats), shows the need to train people to be advocates. Professionals are recruited to the program through media advertising, regular information sessions and personal invitation. Each class has 30 students. Student profiles include four Members of Parliament, journalists (national newspapers, radio), teachers, clergy, military, health workers and a micro-financier.

At Save the Mothers we believe that a multi-disciplinary approach is needed to save some of the 342,000 mothers and four million children who die in the developing world annually due to unsafe childbirth. The burden falls on more than just health professionals, and simply building more hospitals and clinics is not the solution. Rather, the societies where mothers live need to be awakened and changed from within. There are five important spheres of influence, along with health care, that have a direct impact on the number of mothers dying;

Mother Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (MBFHI)

Save the Mother East Africa, recognizes the great need to ensure that quality health care for all mothers is available. This is in relation to poor maternal and child health indicators across the East African states.

In response to this Save the Mothers East Africa launched the Mother Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (MBFHI). This initiative mobilized STM graduates as advocates and advisors for safe motherhood to work in partnership with 12 hospitals in Uganda.

Save the Mothers in collaboration with the advisors use an assessment tool to identify gaps and work with hospital staff and key stakeholders to identify solutions to address the gaps in the hospitals. The advisors also conduct support visits to the hospitals. Some of the improvements in the respective sites include procuring hospital supplies and equipment, setting up High Dependence Units in the maternity wards, installation of rain water harvest system for one of sites.

Midwifery Mentorship and Coaching (MMC)

Save The Mothers’ (STM) Midwifery Mentorship and Coaching (MMC) model targets the critical gaps in training and supporting of midwives and key hospital staff. This mentorship program  trains, mentors and coaches  midwives in clinical knowledge, communication, and leadership skills that empower them to advocate for themselves and educate community members on prevention of maternal and neonatal deaths and morbidities.

 MMC Model Orientation – meeting with 38 key stakeholders who included Ministry of Health and representatives of nine health facilities.

 Mentorship and coaching – 50 frontline health workers from the Mother Baby Friendly Hospital sites have been trained by STM.

STM is grateful to support from Stronger Together

High Dependence Units -HDUs